Bottle closure



April 14, 1964 R. F. SCHNIER 3,128,896

BOTTLE CLOSURE Filed Feb. 20, 1961 INV EN TOR. ROBERT F. SCH/W57? United States Patent ()fifice 3,128,896 Patented Apr. 14,, 1964 3,128,896 BOTTLE tILQSURE Robert F. Schnier, Woodside, Calif. (683 Bryant St., San Francisco 7, Calif.) Filed Feb. 20, 1961, er. No. 90,497 3 Claims. (Cl. 215-48) This invention relates to bottle closures and more particularly to such closures of the stopper type having a head and axially extended hollow shank having a bore therein open at its outer head-end and closed at its free shank end which is insertable in the opening of a bottle neck, the stopper being adapted to be secured therein by a wire hood or harness having an annular wire strand for engaging in an annular crown groove at the upper face of the head of the stopper and having depending legs which terminate in an annular binding wire circumferentially of the bottle neck.

It is common practice to hermetically seal certain types of liquids and beverages in bottles of a type having an elongated tapered neck provided with a radial lip at its terminal open end, and a bead around the neck, spaced from said lip. Such bottled beverages continue to generate gases which accumulate in the upper port-ion of the bottle neck and exert great pressure against the bottle stopper, creating a problem of sealing the accruing gases within the bottle and securing the stop-per against a blowout. To this end it is also desirable to decrease the vacant air space in the bottle as much as possible, while preserving the facility of a puncturable closure so that stoppers of random bottles may be punctured for test purposes, as is sometimes required by regulatory agencies.

Briefly described, the invention comprises a bottle stopper of vinyl plastic material having a suitable slightly elastomeric characteristic, the stopper preferably having an annularly grooved crowned head portion including spaced flutes in its side wall providing therebetween channels extending radially outwardly and downwardly from the crown portion for receiving legs of a wire hood or harness, the stopper having a hollow shank of lesser diameter than the head extending from one face of the head for insertion in the bottle neck, the stopper having an axial bore open at the crowned head end and closed at its opposite end which is the free end of the shank to be inserted in the bottle neck, a suitable closure cover and wire hood for said open end being preferably provided.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a bottle stopper which will decrease the free air space in the neck of a bottle when the bottle is reasonably filled with a gas-generating liquid. Another object is to provide a bottle stopper of vinyl plastic material having a hollow axial bore closed at the end thereof which is insertable in the bottle neck and open at its opposite exterior end. Other objects are to provide in such a bottle-closing stopper a cover means for said open end and a wire hood or harness for securing the stopper and cover to close the bottle neck.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, as will more fully appear from this specification, one form in which the invention may be embodied is described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the closure of the invention mounted in a bottle neck shown fragmentarily;

FIG. 2 is a vertical transverse section on line 2-2 of FIG. 4, enlarged with relation of FIG. 1, and having legs of a wire hood partly broken away;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical transverse section on line 3-3 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of FIG. 4 partly broken away in vertical section, and eliminating a Wire hood member.

FIG. 6 is a modified form of the invention, being a vertical transverse section of the stopper member and wire hood as in other figures, and showing a modified form of cover member.

Referring firstly to FIGS. 1 to 5 of the drawing, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in the several views, 10 indicates generally a bottle of a type in connection with which the stopper of the invent-ion is efiiciently employed, the bottle per se being well known and having an elongated neck 11 which is substantially internally cylindrical adjacent its open end portion, the open end of the neck having a radially outward external annular lip 12, and preferably having spaced therefrom a radially outwardly extended annular head 13.

A closure stopper generally indicated 14 is provided for said end opening of the bottle neck, the stopper being made of a difiicultly yieldable plastic material having a suitably slight degree of resilience sometimes described as elastomeric, and exemplified by the characteristics of polyethylene or vinyl resins.

The stopper has a generally semi-spherical head portion generally indicated 15 substantially circular in plan and providing a crown at its upper portion. From the underside of the head there extends an integral hollow coaxial shank 16, the exterior of which is substantially cylindrical for the major portion of its length adjoining the head, but may have a free terminal end portion slightly tapered conically downwardly and inwardly at 17 to facilitate initial insertion of said end into the opening of a bottle neck. Relatively spaced axially along the outer face of the cylindrical Wall portion of the shank there may be a plurality of narrow circumferential ridges or rings 18 which provide a plurality of narrow tight sealing lines against the inside of the bottle neck.

A hollowed cylindrical socket or bore 20 is provided axially of the stopper and extending through head 15 and substantially the length of the shank, the bore being open at the crowned head end as at 21 and closed at the opposite or terminal inner end of the shank by a relatively thin bridging wall .22, it being noted that the hollowed shank and the end closure at the free terminal end of the shank within the bottle displaces an equal volume of free air within the bottle, but preserves a relatively thin sealing Wall at the inner end of the shank which may be punctured for testing gas pressure in random bottles, as is required by inspection regulations in some jurisdictions.

The head portion 15 of the stopper is integral with the shank and comprises a preferably solid generally convex molded body portion 23 substantially circular in plan having a substantial axial thickness exemplified as approximately one-third of the total length of the stopper. The head portion is substantially greater in maximum diameter than the exterior of the shank, providing at the lower face of the head portion a circumferential shoulder 24 extending radially from the adjacent portion of the shank, the shoulder having an inset annular groove 25 in the planar face thereof, the groove opening outwardly in the direction of the axis of the shank portion and into which the open end of the bottle neck may seat. The solid molded body portion of the head and the radially extended shoulder provide a substantial reinforcement and butter overlying the frangible end edge of the hollow neck of the bottle which may be subject to rough handling in refrigeration or shipment.

From the free outer circumferential edge of the bore opening 21 the body of the head is sloped downwardly and outwardly providing an inner wall for a relatively shallow annular crown groove 27, the outer wall of which will be further described. From the outer wall of this groove 27 the side wall 28 of the head inclines generally downwardly and outwardly and preferably arcuately substantially to the outer edge of shoulder 24. In this side wall 28 there are provided a plurality of relatively equally spaced flutes 31 preferably in multiples of four circumferentially of the side wall, the flutes radiating outwardly and downwardly from groove 27, the end of the flutes adjacent the groove being preferably substantially higher than the valley of the crown groove as at 32 and providing an outer side wall surrounding the crown groove. The flutes are of greater width at the shoulder 24 than at the crown groove, and being relatively spaced circumferentially of the head, they provide therebetween channels 33 in multiples of four, each fourth channel being spaced at 90 degrees relatively. The channels communicate with the crown groove by intersecting said outer wall thereof and extended from the annular crown groove substantially to the outer circumference of the shoulder 24-.

Though the diameter of the head at the shoulder portion 24 may be substantially of similar diameter to the outer diameter of the lip 12 of the bottle neck, such diameter is preferably somewhat greater than the lip of the bottle neck in order to provide a buffer for protective purposes at the open end of the neck, and to serve as a fulcrum upon which the legs of a wire binding hood may be bent to more securely bind the stopper in the bottle.

It is believed that the predominant use of such stoppers would be in the bottling of liquids which spontaneously generate gaseous pressures within the bottle. With such gas-generating liquid, it is well known to use an intertwisted wire hood or harness 34 to insure holding a stopper against such gas pressure.

Such wire hood may comprise an annular wire crown strand 36 adapted for seating in the groove 27 and having four integral intertwisted depending wire legs 37 which are equally spaced at 90 degrees and extend from the crown strand and groove downwardly in four of the likewise-spaced channels 33 and beyond the shoulder 24, whereupon they may be secured by a binding strand 38 around the bottle neck below the head 13, or, by making the shoulder 24 and the bottle lip 12 of substantially similar diameters, the binding strand 38 at the end of the legs may be anchored beneath said lip of the bottle neck, and in either case the binding strand may be tightened below such head or below such lip by intertwisting the binding strand 38 until it tightly engages the bottle neck below such head or lip, a method of holding which is well known in use of such wire hoods.

In the event that it is desired that the bore opening 21 shall remain open without a cover, the crown strand may be seated directly in the annular crown groove 27. However, it is preferred to provide a cover for the opening 21 to prevent accumulation of dust or other sediment in the bore 20 or the accumulation of water or ice chips therein if the bottle is refrigerated in ice.

It is preferred that such a cover shall comprises a freely mounted separate member comprising a relatively stiif partly rigid circular convexed disc 40 preferably of stamped metal, or a molded plastic. Such disc may be pre-formed with a radially outer annular strip portion 43 and a convex central crown portion 41 with an annular indented groove 42 adjacently spaced inwardly from its circumferential edge for seating in the crown groove 27, the convex portion overlying opening 21. The outer circumferential strip 43 is mounted to overlie the inner end of the flutes, and to anchor and prevent rotation of the disc there are provided therein four deformed radial indentations 44 equally spaced at 90 degrees which seat in the adjacent end of any selected similarly spaced four of the channels 33, thus positioning the disc with relation to the channels, whereupon the wire hood or harness may have its annular crown strand seated in the annular indented groove 42 of the disc and its four legs extending through said four indentations 44 and through the four corresponding channels 33 for the fastening of the ter- K minal ends of the legs about the bottle neck by clinching the binder strand 38 as previously described.

In the modification of FIG. 6 a pliable well known foil or suitably formed plastic enclosing cover 45 may be employed in lieu of or in conjunction with the described disc cover, such a pliable cover extending across and closing the opening 21 and including a depending skirt 46, in which event the crown strand 36 of the wire hood will press the pliable cover into the crown groove 27, and the depending legs will deform the skirt portion 46 into the channels 33, and the depending end portion of the skirt being then secured around the bottle neck by the binder strand 38 as previously described.

It is to be observed that while it is preferred that only four of the channels 33 are employed for holding the cap and wire legs at one time, in one bottle closure, the additional channels and flutes provide a selective facility for positioning and securing the cap or cover and the legs of the wire hood, and such additional channels and flutes also provide a greater facility around the entire circumference of the head for manual manipulation of the head of the stopper for more easily overcoming frictional resistance in the inserting and removal of the stopper.

Having described the invention, I claim:

1. A separate closure member adapted for mounting at the outer open head end of a tubular bore of a bottle stopper which has an annular crown groove and spaced channels radiating outwardly and downwardly from said crown groove, said closure member comprising a convexly crowned circular disc having radially extended deformed indentations in its outer circumferential edge portion, said deformed indentations being circumferentially spaced to conform with the spacing of a preselected number of said channels, the said disc closure member including an indented crown groove circumferentially of its convex portion, said groove being spaced radially inwardly from the outer circumferential edge of the disc and said indented deformations extending radially outwardly from said crown groove to said outer circumferential edge of the disc.

2. A bottle closure comprising a stopper member for seating in the open neck of a bottle, said stopper having a head and a shank of lesser diameter than the head extending axially from the underface of the head, thereby providing a radial circumferential shoulder at said underface of the head, the head and shank having an axial bore therein open at an upper face of said head-end and closed at the free terminal end of the shank, said head having a sidewall portion the outer face of which inclines radially outwardly and downwardly toward the shoulder, said sidewall portion of the head having a plurality of flutes extending axially and relatively spaced circumferentially, said relative spacing of the flutes providing channels therebetween for receiving therein legs of a wire hood which may secure said stopper in a bottle neck, the said head having at its said upper face an annular crown groove circumferentially of the opening of the bore adapted for receiving a crown strand of a wire hood, the adjacent end of the flutes being higher than the valley of the crown groove providing an outer wall therearound, the valleys of said channels extending through said outer wall and communicating at their inner ends with the crown groove whereby legs of a wire hood may be turned from the crown groove into said channels between said flutes, and the said upper face of said head being inclined upwardly and radially inwardly from the said crown groove to the said opening of the bore at the head of the stopper and thereby providing an inner annular wall for the crown groove, said bottle closure including a separate circular cover member for said opening at the head end of the stopper, said cover having a convex central portion overlying said opening of said bore and the said inclined inner wall of the crown groove, and said cover being provided with an annular groove spaced radially inwardly from its outer circumferential edge, the groove of the cover being,

engageable in the crown groove of the stopper, whereby a crown strand and legs of a Wire hood may engage said cover for maintaining the cover in closing relation to said opening at the head of the stopper when the stopper and cover are mounted to close the neck of a bottle.

3. A bottle closure for wire hooded bottles as set forth in claim 2, the said cover comprising a disc, said disc having relatively spaced indented deformations extending radially between said annular groove of the cover and the circumferential edge portion of the cover, said indented deformations being adapted for fitting into the openings of the channels at the crown groove, whereby legs of a wire hood may simultaneously extend from the crown 6 groove through said indented deformations and the adjacent end of the channels.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,953,273 Gschwend et al Sept. 20, 1963 FOREIGN PATENTS 68,201 France Oct. 28, 1957 536,756 Italy Dec. 9, 1955 856,161 France Mar. 11, 1940 1,072,030 France Mar. 10, 1954 

1. A SEPARATE CLOSURE MEMBER ADAPTED FOR MOUNTING AT THE OUTER OPEN HEAD END OF A TUBULAR BORE OF A BOTTLE STOPPER WHICH HAS AN ANNULAR CROWN GROOVE AND SPACED CHANNELS RADIATING OUTWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY FROM SAID CROWN GROOVE, SAID CLOSURE MEMBER COMPRISING A CONVEXLY CROWNED CIRCULAR DISC HAVING RADIALLY EXTENDED DEFORMED INDENTATIONS IN ITS OUTER CIRCUMFERENTIAL EDGE PORTION, SAID DEFORMED INDENTATIONS BEING CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED TO CONFORM WITH THE SPACING OF A PRESELECTED NUMBER OF SAID CHANNELS, THE SAID DISC CLOSURE MEMBER INCLUDING AN IDENTED CROWN GROOVE CIRCUMFERENTIALLY OF ITS CONVEX PORTION, SAID GROOVE BEING SPACED RADIALLY INWARDLY FROM THE OUTER CIRCUMFERENTIAL EDGE OF THE DISC AND SAID INDENTED DEFORMATIONS EXTENDING RADIALLY OUTWARDLY FROM SAID CROWN GROOVE TO SAID OUTER CIRCUMFERENTIAL EDGE OF THE DISC. 